CINCINNATI — The Cubs have been in first place in the NL Central for most of the season, and the offense has been humming. Still, third base has been a problem for much of 2025, but now it seems that rookie Matt Shaw is fixing the problem after a much-needed stint in the minors.
As things stand, the Cubs have a two-game lead in the NL Central. They are first in the majors in batting average, third in on-base percentage, third in slugging percentage and first in runs scored with a hefty margin (321 with the Yankees’ 296 being second).
The worst spot, offensively, has been third base. Cubs’ third basemen this season have hit .208/.286/.268. Shaw started the season as a rookie in the hot corner, but the Cubs have also tried Jon Berti, Gage Workman, Nicky Lopez, Vidal Bruján and Justin Turner there. Nothing worked. Though it seems Shaw is turning a corner.
Through April 14, the 23-year-old Shaw was hitting .172/.294/.241 with 18 strikeouts through the first 18 games of his MLB career. The highly touted prospect was having issues with timing and making hard contact. He was drawing walks, but not doing anything else well. The Cubs decided to send him back to Triple-A, where he only had 35 games of previous experience. He agreed with the move.
“There’s not time for young guys to struggle when we want to win, so it was exactly what I needed,” Shaw told CBS Sports Friday. “I think it was something that I really needed. I felt like I needed it, even at the time. As unfortunate as it was, it felt like something that I needed. It was just part of the journey and, yeah, I’ve stayed confident.”
In 24 games with Triple-A Iowa, he slashed .286/.409/.560 with five doubles, a triple, six homers and five steals.
“I think half the battle is obviously getting that confidence back and being in position that you feel good and you feel comfortable,” Shaw said. “Not having had much success in the big leagues yet, being the young guy, there’s nothing really to fall back on there.”
Most importantly, he made a few tweaks to his swing.
“We’ve asked him to make some changes and I think he’s done really well with them,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of Shaw on Friday. “I think the easiest thing to see is that he’s a little more upright, not as much on his legs as he was in April in the big leagues. The leg kick is smaller just to get him to be on time as much as he possibly can. Those are the two differences that I think you can see and those kind of lead to smaller mechanical things that I think will allow him to be more consistent.”
The consistency is already showing. Though Shaw’s only been up for six games since being promoted back to the Cubs, he’s gotten at least one hit in five of the six games and he hit the ball hard multiple times in his 0-for-5 game on Friday. Overall in these six most recent games after his minor-league return, Shaw has gone 9 for 25 (.360) with five doubles, posting a .560 slugging percentage. Despite the early season demotion, he still has the fifth-best odds (+1100) to win NL Rookie of the Year honors at Caesars Sportsbook.
The Cubs’ lineup has been humming along all season to the point that we shouldn’t expect to see Shaw moving up above the No. 8 spot, but he does appear to be shoring up what had been the lone weak spot in Chicago’s lineup.
“I think the stint back in Triple-A gave me a little perspective about the big leagues and gave me a breath of fresh air to kind of take a step back,” Shaw said. “It also gave me some time to work on things, all of which I needed.
“Hopefully I can take what I’ve learned from the minor leagues and continue to grow into a better hitter.”
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So far, it’s worked out incredibly well. Now the Cubs (32-21) head home with a very workable homestand against the Rockies and Reds. And it looks like they finally have their everyday third baseman.
